Police event postponed after two-hour wait for Mbalula
Minister busy tying up loose ends for ANC’s 106th birthday in East London
POLICE Minister Fikile Mbalula failed to show up at a police safety monitoring event in East London yesterday because he was busy with preparations for the ANC’s 106th birthday celebrations.
Mbalula was expected to be at the East London railway station yesterday where he was due to conduct rail safety monitoring alongside provincial police commissioner LieutenantGeneral Liziwe Ntshinga.
Instead, Mbalula was caught up with preparations for the ruling party’s 106th anniverary celebrations in East London. He is a member of the party’s organising committee.
The ANC turned 106 yesterday but the official celebrations will be on Saturday, when Ramaphosa will deliver the traditional “January 8 Statement” from Buffalo City Stadium.
More than 50 police officers and 10 journalists waited for more than two hours for Mbalula to arrive at the station.
The railway operation, which would have seen Mbalula boarding a train to Mdantsane, was billed as part of the minister’s three-day police work programme in the province, with operations including community engagements, Operation Fiela search-and-seizures and roadblocks at identified crime hotspots.
The provincial head of visible policing, Brigadier Malibongwe Ntsabo, told journalists at the railway station that Mbalula was busy “tying up loose ends” ahead of the party’s birthday celebrations.
“As you know this is a big event [ANC celebrations] so everything must run smoothly. The minister is currently busy with the provincial commissioner, [sport, recreation, arts and culture] MEC [Pemmy] Majodina and [one of the four] deputy national police commissioner[s] doing touch-ups. This railway operation has been postponed for [Tuesday].”
Mbalula’s spokesman Esethu Hasana said: “We sent a retraction on Friday on our media invitation for this railway operation informing the media that the minister would no longer be available today [Monday].
“I don’t know how it didn’t reach the members of the media.
“We would like to apologise to all the journalists for the inconvenience created by this communication breakdown.”
Hasana said Mbalula would still do his police work as scheduled.
In a statement Hasana said: “Having observed successes of festive season operations, the minister intends to keep and upscale the momentum by making our communities safe throughout the year, increasing police visibility and providing resources where needed.”
Mbalula is expected to conclude his work tomorrow by checking the state of the SAPS radio control office in West Bank. —